Which of the two stories is the better story?
I like the first one better then the last one. The first one with the animals doesn't have so much human killing in it. The one with the animals doesn't scare me so much either. It is not that likely that you will ever be trapped on a lifeboat in he middle of the ocean with a bunch of animals. However, it is possible to be trapped on a boat with a bunch of humans and one of them would get so hungry that they start eating everyone else. -Dominique

The first story appealed to my interest more than did the second. It was a bit more outrageous and more compelling to have a story of a man on a lifeboat with a group of wild animals than with humans. Although the first story is much less realistic, there is still some realism behind it. It is, though very unlikely, possible for all of this to happen. The first story is simply generally more fantastic. -Ethan

I too enjoyed the first story much more than the second. The first story was more exciting and had an element of danger and mystery because no one, not even Pi, knew what would happen to him and the many animals as they sailed the sea in search of safety. Animals always ad an unusual aspect to any story and it provided company for Pi on his treacherous journey. Without the animals, the story would be ten times less exciting cause he would be alone and half of his thoughts in the story were linked to the animals; it would just be a boring story otherwise.-Jenna

The first story was a bit of a stretch, but conceivable. It also was a bit less terrifying. When you think of the elements of the story as animals, it is less focused on the life of the animals as it would be the life of the humans. You fear less for what the animals would do than what the humans would do. A decapitated orangutan is less terrifying than a decapitated woman. I probably would have not even continued reading the book if the elements were not animals, but people. -Dave

The better story is the one with the animals. I wont say that it is the most belivable, but it is the best. In that story fear is Pi's constant compainon. Fear of running out of food or water, and fear of a fully grown tiger. He tames his fear (tiger) and lives with it for 227 days. He battles the high seas, acidic islands, and a sence of hopelessness. He does what he can to survive (eating turtles and sharks) and finds his way back to land. How can you even compare this tale of self struggle to the shortened version with no animals or islands? -Diana

I loved the first story. It seems like something that would happen to me (although I probably would have not been able to handle it so well). The story of the humans was something that I kind of skimmed through, mostly because there are millions of stories about human interaction, and I got bored quickly (even with all of the insaneness). I believe that the first story is a representation of what religious people believe, and the second is how others who don't understand perceive it. That reason is why the first story is much more real to me. |Nicolette
I liked the first story much better. It was much more captivating. Although the second story is more believable, it does not have the same appeal as the first one. If the author had used the second story to base the book off of, it would have been a lot shorter and it would not have kept my interest at all. The story about battling the sea and hunger and thirst and of course the tiger was a story that kept me interested. Even though the story had a lot of things that most people will not experience, there were things that I can relate to. I can relate to having difficulty having faith in tough situations. It was incredible how Pi worked through his difficulties with faith even in an especially hard time. ~Megan